Wireless networks are gaining popularity because wireless infrastructures are typically easier and less expensive to deploy than wired networks. However, wireless networks can be susceptible to environmental conditions, interference and other impairments. A popular wireless network implementation uses base stations that communicate with wireless user devices that are located within cells associated with the base stations.
Carrier frequencies at the transmitter and the receiver are generally derived from different sources. For example, in a mode of the 802.16e standard systems, the base stations (BS) derive their carrier frequency from a GPS (global positioning system) clock and the subscriber station (SS) typically derives its carrier frequency from a crystal oscillator. The carrier frequencies of the two devices can be as much as tens of KHz apart. The difference between the transmitter frequency and receiver frequency is referred to as the frequency offset.
A large frequency offset error degrades the performance of the receiver. The smaller the frequency offset, the better the performance of the receiver. Better performance translates to increased data rates, lower transmitter power, and therefore, increased battery life.
The performance of the frequency offset estimation and tracking must be adequate even in the presence of interference. Generally, there are two main additive impairments at the receiver in a wireless communication system. The impairments include both interference and noise. The interference can come from devices inside and outside of the system. The noise is typically includes Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) or thermal noise. Most wireless systems are interference limited, meaning the effect of interference dominates that of additive noise at the receiver. Frequency offset estimation and tracking algorithms can be used to reduce the effects of interference and noise.
There is a need for method and system for estimating frequency offset between a wireless base station and a wireless terminal in the presence of interference.